A number of bottle filling devices have been developed for filling refillable bottles with liquids. Some of those devices also pressurize the bottle before capping it. The prior art bottle filling devices are generally large and designed for production line operation in a factory. They must be operated by trained operators and are generally quite expensive. The art has not developed an automatic bottle filling machine which can be operated by the consumer at the point of retail purchase.
A variety of vending machines have been developed which sell liquids in bottles, cans and cups. The bottles and cans offered by these machines are filled at the factory and are usually disposable. The cups offered by other vending machines are intended for a single use. Consequently, a purchaser who uses these vending machines must pay not only for the liquid he wishes to consume, but also for the non-reusable package in which it is contained. There is a need for a vending type machine which can be used to fill reusable bottles inserted into the machine by the purchaser. A vending machine which utilizes containers inserted into the machine by the purchaser enables the product, and components from which the product can be made, to be transported and stored by the supplier in bulk quantities until purchased by the consumer. For many products, particularly those containing water, product components can be combined at the point of retail sale to manufacture the product. For carbonated and uncarbonated soft drinks, this eliminates the packaging, warehousing, transporting and shelf storage of water which can be supplied to my filling machine at the retail point of purchase and there mixed with flavor syrup. It also eliminates the need for providing and charging for packaging.
One potential problem with the creation of a vending machine which can fill bottles supplied by the purchaser is the lack of a suitable, refillable liquid container that could be easily filled in a vending machine. Present refillable bottles have removable caps. Although these caps can be placed by machine onto the bottle, the capping process requires a large mechanism which is impractical for a vending machine environment. Bottles which have been uncapped by the user cannot be completely resealed. Unless the bottle is completely sealed, the product may deteriorate and carbonation will be lost. I have developed a refillable bottle described in my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 029,167, filed Mar. 23, 1987, which overcomes the problems of prior art bottles and is particularly suited for my filling machine.